I have so enjoyed spending the last week working with Brush Strokes, the newest fabric line by Holly DeGroot for Cloud9 Fabrics. Holly is so talented and has such a great eye for design, I knew that when she announced she had a fabric line coming out that it would be awesome. This line is so summery and fresh, the colors so bright and beautiful.

I decided to continue on my new english paper piecing kick and work on a big pillow for my daughter. The centers are made with 2″ hexagons, the ring around the center is made with 2″ hexagon thirds, and the equilateral triangles have sides measuring 3-1/2″ (I just made them myself at home).

It’s been relaxing to have a couple of EPP projects around to work on over the summer and in the evenings. I’m usually in such a rush to finish things. It’s nice to remind myself that it’s the journey with these, and not so much the destination.

Today I’m going to share some cloth, appliqué napkins. These are a fun project that would be great not only for your home, but also as a housewarming or host/hostess gift for a friend.

In the spirit of setting a pretty table at meal time, I asked Rob and Alexia what sort of food they would cook the other for a special occasion.

Alexia: I love to cook and try new things, and thankfully so does Rob. But for a sweet surprise meal I think I would go with his favorites; I would make caesar salad, homemade gnocchi with a brown butter sauce, and then his favorite dessert, cheesecake.

Rob: Though this meal doesn’t necessarily promote amorous affection (high levels of garlic), I love to make and surprise Alexia with chicken piccata, sauteed spinach and garlic mashed potatoes, neatly plated and served on a restaurant inspired table setting, white table cloth and cloth napkins included.

I really love chicken piccata, so that made me hungry!

To make these napkins, all you need is a set of store bought cloth napkins (I bought a 4 pack of linen/cotton blend ones at Target for about $8.00), Heat n Bond Lite, and your favorite fabrics.

I decided to appliqué different designs onto the corner of each napkin. I simply applied the Heat n Bond Lite to the back of the fabric scraps (per the manufactures instructions), cut out my shapes, and then ironed them onto the napkins.

I wanted to keep my edges pretty raw, as I think a little fraying as they wash will give these a great look. So I sewed with a straight stitch a couple of times around each fabric shape. If you don’t like the frayed look, you could use a tighter zigzag stitch to finish your appliqué.

And now for the giveaway! How would you like to win a full Fat Quarter bundle of microMod? Simply leave a comment and I will pick a winner on Friday, April 19th.

There are also prizes at the other Sew Along stops. And, for a grand finale, a huge prize package back at Alexia’s blog at the end of the hop: A fat quarter stack of microMod by Rob Bancroft from Cloud9 fabrics, the entire Green Bee Patterns collection, a microMod sewing bag, and a Singer Heavy Duty Sewing Machine! (Open to contiguous US residents only.) So be sure to follow and sew along. 🙂

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I accept paid sponsor advertisements on this site. Occasionally, I receive fabric, notions and/or books in exchange for posting an honest review of these items. I will always state when I have received these items for free, and accepting these items will not prevent me from stating my honest opinion of them. This site also uses Accuquilt, Amazon, Annie's, Blitsy, Connecting Threads, Craftsy, CreativeBug LLC, CreativeLive, Cricut, C&T Publishing Inc., Leisure Arts Inc., Darn Good Yarn, Knit Picks, Patchwork Posse, Sulky of America, Inc., Taunton Press, and Thermoweb affiliate links.